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Hart Hills Gravel Race starts and finishes in downtown Hart, MI. I raced the 55 mile course which is part of the Michigan Gravel Race Series (MGRS) Long Series.
I was so close to skipping this race. I was fighting a stomach bug all week, was lethargic and couldn't do any intensity. The night before the race I slept poorly with shivers and cold sweats.I figured I'd just start driving since I was already all packed up, but was prepared to turn around at any moment during the 3 hour drive to the race if I felt I was unable to ride. Between a migraine and my stomach, I figured I wouldn't be in race shape, but maybe I could get in a tough training ride and hopefully feel a bit better afterwards.
My plan was to try and get in a good group but not fight for the front. That decision was made early for me as a big gap opened up and I didn't have the energy to close it. Shortly after the front group of about 10 got away, I settled into a decent group of about 10-15. Eventually our group was reduced down to a few. Coincidently, we ended up chasing down the front group of the 35 mile race which started after our wave, but skips the eastern loop on the course so they were ahead. It was a tough chase to get on to the 35 mile group and I almost got dropped. However, with no group behind to fall back to, I knew I had to just hang on. Which I was able to but just barely.
We ended up staying with the 35 milers until the split, but a few 55 milers accidently went the wrong way. I could have jumped on with couple guys immediately after the 35/55 miler split, but they seemed too eager to push and I thought I'd just wait for the guys I was with from earlier. Unfortunately it took a bit of time for one of the guys to catch back up so I ended up solo for a while. The two of us stayed together for a while at a comfortable pace until 2 other guys bridged up. The four of us stayed together to the finish. We were a good group working together and taking pulls. I lost the group at 02:01:45 when a stick got caught in my derailleur. I thought I quickly cleared it but there were some wood fragments caught in the cassette. Then, when I went to remount the sand was super soft and I was also in too hard of a gear. Ugh, I thought not another late mechanical 2 races in a row. It took longer to fix than it should have (30 secs), but luckily I was able to chase back on.
Surprisingly as the race went on I felt better. As we approached downtown and the finish, I knew it would come down to a sprint. Fortunately I was able to win the sprint for 9th place overall, which is one of my best finishes in the MRGS. Surprised and happy with my effort and results considering the week I had leading into it!
*Mics on the GoPro's were quite muffled, which I'm assuming was from all the water and sand from the previous race. I'll have to see if I can fix that.*
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